Wine Blogging Wednesday #61- “At The Source” with Narmada Winery

This months Wine Blogging Wednesday is hosted by the founder of WBW, Lenn Thompson of the blog “The New York Cork Report.” His topic for this month was to taste and or purchase a wine at the source rather than at your local wine shop, and you get bonus points for tasting with the winemaker.

This was perfect timing for me because this month I had several trips out to Virginia Wine country planned. One in particular was to a brand new winery, Narmada, who’s owners I met at a winery in Santa Cruz, California last year. That’s right I first met Sudha and Pandit Patil (owners) while tasting at Testarossa winery in California last November. The Patil’s kept my information and emailed me a couple of weeks ago to let me know that their new winery was opening soon and wanted me to come out try what they had.

The property that Narmada resides on was purchased in 1999 and the first grapes, 2 acres of Vidal Blanc, were planted in 2004. In 2005 additional grapes were planted, 3 acres of Chambourcin, 2.5 acres of Chardonelle and 1.5 acres of Traminette. Until this past vintage the grapes had been sold off but in 2008 they produced 44 tons of grapes to go into their first official bottlings. Also planted in 2008 were acreage of Vinifera varieties Cab Franc and Viognier. The winery is still under construction, so the tastings are currently being done in a beautiful pavilion next to the pond on their property. Narmada had a soft opening on Labor Day weekend and is currently open Fri., Sat. and Sun., but will have an official grand opening in November.

What we tasted –

2008 “Mom” Chardonelle – aromas of honey and corn pudding, with flavors of cardamom, apple, honey and white pepper. Full bodied. – one of the few Chardonelles I have enjoyed

2008 “Reflection” Chambourcin – aromas of smoky blueberry, flavors were slightly muddled and metallic. Spicy mouthfeel and medium bodied.

2008 “Melange” 60% Cabernet Sauvignon/40% Merlot – lots of cherry on the nose, with flavors of cooked green beans, red currant, and raspberry. Medium bodied with nice acidity.

2008 “Midnight” Chambourcin (<1% RS) – aromas of cardamom, baking spices and smoky cherry. Flavors were similar but added cranberry and raspberry. Medium to full body, no detectable sweetness. – one of the few Chambourcins I have enjoyed.

We also got taste a couple of wines that aren’t yet released, only because Narmada is waiting on TTB approval of the labels.

2008 Viognier – aromas of honey, slate and peach followed by flavors of honeysuckle, slate, and apricot jam. Good viscous mouthfeel and spicy acidity.

2008 Cabernet Franc – touch good funkiness on the nose paired with cherry and red currant. Flavors of rose, lavender, cherry, red currant and “baby powder”. Medium to full body and silky smooth with velvety tannins

For such a young winery I was very impressed with the offerings, especially the hybrid varieties that I am not usually a fan of. In addition to Pandit, who handles the vineyard management and Sudha who helps with wine making and lab duties, they have brought on Rob Cox as winemaker. Rob was formally of The Winery at La Grange and adds some great regional expertise to the Narmada team.

Check back later in the year when I can get back up to take pictures of the completed winery.

Cheers!

Narmada Winery

43 Narmada Lane,
Amissville, VA 20106-4170

Wine Blogging Wednesday #60 – “I have Zinned”

This month, Wine Blogging Wednesday created by Lenn Thompson of LENNDEVOURS, is in it’s 60^th edition and hosted by Megan at Wannabe Wino. Her theme this month is anything Zin, and pairing it with BBQ and or grilled meat. Well since I’m a vegetarian I couldn’t comply with the second part but I did the first and served it with a great pizza from my favorite local pizzeria Angelos. I thought it would be funny to choose a “white zin” but I didn’t and chose the 2006 Seghesio San Lorenzo Block 8 Zinfandel. I got this as one of my wine club shipments from Segehesio about a year ago.

From Seghesio on the history of the San Lorenzo Vineyard:

“Rachel Ann Passalacqua met Eugene “Pete” Seghesio when purchased her father’s Zinfandel grapes from the San Lorenzo vineyard in southernmost Alexander Valley. In 1956 the couple was married. Seghesio Farms now manages that same vineyard, purchased in 1896 by Rachel Ann’s grandfather for the sum of ten gold coins. At that time, the vineyard was already planted to and producing Zinfandel. Today, it represents our oldest plantings of Zinfandel.”

The information on the wine –

Appellation: Alexander Valley, Sonoma

Grapes: 100% Zinfandel

Fermentation: 11 day punchdown in 6 Ton open top fermenters

Oak program: 12 months in French oak, 25% was new

Alcohol: 15.4%

Price: $35

My Tasting Notes –

Nose: brown sugar, coffee grounds, fig, raisin and molasses

Taste: plum, fig, blackberry, baking spices, thyme

Mouthfeel: full body, round, dry and spicy

Finish: long and fruity with hints of cocoa

Two words to describe this would be BIG and RICH, not to be confused with the country music band of the same name. Although as big as it was and with the 15.4% ABV it was not out of balance in any way and wasn’t over the top but brimming at the edges. The nose was as if I had walked into a coffee shop that was baking coffee cake while eating some dried figs. Amazing! Each sip, completely wrapped my tongue in layers of dark fruit, and hints of thyme. And I know there aren’t any taste receptors on the bottom of my tongue but it seemed as though I could really taste it from the bottom up. Maybe it was dripping all the way through my tongue. Gross thought, but this was killer! Definitely could have gone with some smoked baby back ribs, but it rode nicely with my pizza!!

Cheers to another WBW!

Wine Blogging Wednesday #56 – Kosher Wine

This months Wine Blogging Wednesday #56 is brought to us by CorkDork and he asks us to try and write about Kosher wines on this last day of passover. My kosher wine for this WBW is the 2005 Fortant Cabernet Sauvignon Vin De Pays D’Oc. These wines are approved by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations signified by the letter U circled on the label, and certified kosher for Passover (indicated by the letter p on the label.

The Fortant Cabernet Sauvignon is also certified Yayin Mevushal signifying the wine has been fermented and flash pasteurized. The Mevushal process is performed according to MEHADRINE standards (92°C flash pasteurization) without degrading the quality of the wine. This process helps stabilize the wines color, tannin and fruit and allows it to remain kosher if the bottle is handled by non-Jews.

Not much else is offered on the wine as far as wine making, involving cooperage or vinification techniques, but the wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.

My Tasting Notes:

Nose: “portish”, fig, raisin, cassis

Taste: raisin, raspberry, touch of earth, green pepper

Mouthfeel: medium body, decent acidity leaning toward the high side, suprising leathery tannins

Finish: dusty from the tannin sticks around but the flavor profile is gone rather quickly

Not sure what I think of this wine, it has a $13 wine structure but a $5 flavor profile and finish. The wine definitely smells as if it has been cooked a bit and I honestly don’t understand how it couldn’t seeing as it was flash pasteurized at 92ºC (197ºF), that’s pretty hot. The wine wasn’t bad, don’t get me wrong, it just wasn’t that good..

Before this post I had no idea what signified a Kosher wine, so although the wine was so so, I did learn something new in the process. Thanks CorkDork for suggesting this topic and to Lenn Thompson of LennDevours for the conception of Wine Blogging Wednesday.

Cheers!

Wine Blogging Wednesday #55 – North vs South

For wine blogging Wednesday this month our host is Remy Charest of the blog Wine Case. Remy asks us to pit North against South in a battle of terroir and and to see, if any differences lattitude plays on varietal expression. I chose the fickle, thin skinned Pinot Noir grape for this experiment, and needless to say Mr. PN was nervous. Although this may be a predictable battle royal, I chose a Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley in Oregon and one from the island of Tasmania. The reason I say that this may be a predictable battle is that not only is the Pinot Noir fickle, with an estimated 1000 clones and a tendency to suck up the terrior with a slurpee size straw, you would probably see differences if I planted PN on either side of my back yard. All that aside, let the battle begin.

<In my boxing announcer voice> In this corner, all the way from Tasmania, coming in at 13.1% ABV comprised of 100% Pinot Noir is the 2007 42 Degrees South Pinot Noir. ($20)

42 Degrees “training” regimen – 48-hour pre-ferment soak. Inoculated ferment in 1/2 and 1 tonne open fermenters, hand plunged 3-times daily. Pressed off skins into stainless steel tanks at 2-3 °Bé for completion of primary fermentation. Transfer into oak for inoculated MLF before racking off lees and further barrel maturation.
Oak: 10 months in 20% new and 80% seasoned French oak barriques.

My Tasting Notes –

Nose – black currant, plum, black cherry, clove

Taste – black cherry, Smuckers rapsberry jam, cooked green bean

Mouthfeel – medium to full body, velvety full tannins and moderate acidity

Finish – decent length, fruity and lean

<In my boxing announcer voice> …and in this corner all the way from the Willamette Valley (Yamhill-Carlton AVA) in Oregon, coming in at 14.1% ABV comprised of 100% Pinot Noir is the 2006 Et Fille “Kalita” Pinot Noir. ($43)

Et Fille “training” program – the vineyard is situated on Willakenzie soil at an altitude that varies between 400 and 800. Half of our blocks run to the top of the vineyard. The clones of the grapes harvested for us are exclusively pommard and a small amount of wadensvil.

Oak: 10 months, 50% new

My Tasting Notes –

Nose – earth, cedar and smoke and boysenberry

Taste – spicy vanilla, leather and cherry

Mouthfeel – elegant and soft, supple tannins and nice acidity

Finish – long and clean with light red fruit flavors lingering with a tinge of earthiness

I think these two were great contenders and both are great in their own respect. Besides the fact that they come in at different price points, they offer the dramatic differences that the Pinot Noir grape has to offer. While the 42 Degrees was more dark fruit and full bodied, the Et Fille was lean and elegant with more red fruit and earth driven components.

Thanks to Remy for this interesting idea for Wine Blogging Wednesday, it was a blast.

Cheers!

Wine Blogging Wednesday #54: A passion for Piedmont

Welcome to Wine Blogging Wednesday #54: A passion for Piedmont whose host is David McDuff of McDuff’s Food & Wine Trail. Well of course I am totally stoked as Piedmont or Piemonte is one of my favorite wine regions to sip wines from as well as one of my favorites to visit. The rules for this WBW were simple, just pick any wine from the Piedmont region of Italy, sip it and write about it! It can be one of the powerful Nebbiolo based varietals such as Barolo or Barberesco or it can be the aromatic Arneis. I chose to write about Barbera, the work horse grape of the region that along with it’s little brother Dolcetto, find themselves on dinner tables in the region more often than not. The wine itself was the 2005 Marco Porello Barbera d’ Alba Filatura ($17). From the Filatura vineyard in the village of Canale comes this Barbera that is comprised of 100% of the grape. Unlike Barberesco and Barolo that are from the same grape and named for their respective regions, Barbera and Dolcetto are named for the grapes themselves.

From the winemaker:

“The vineyards are from 30 to 50 years old. The south-west sun exposure of the vineyard, the medium mixture soil with a good percentage of clay allow a very good ripening of bunches. The grape harvest takes place normally at the beginning of October. The wine making processes used are the following: grapes destemming and crushing, fermentation at controlled temperature for 10/12 days and racking off. The wine is afterwards poured into wooden barrels where it finishes its alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. The wine is improved in barriques (with a good relation new/used ones according to the characteristics of the year) for 12/14 months. The production is of around 6,000 bottles. After the bottling the wine rests for some months before being commercialized.”

I always enjoy Barbera, because you get a little more oomph than a Dolcetto but don’t spend that much more money, although Barbera’s can get up in the $30-$40 range. One in particular that I wrote about a few months ago was in that price range but drank more like a Barolo than a Barbera so the price was warranted.

My Tasting Notes –

Nose – cherry, raspberry, rhubarb

Taste – cherry, red currant, vanilla, dry dusty earth

Mouthfeel – medium body, fairly “full” feeling for a Barbera with good acidic back end

Finish – medium length, dusty to velvety tannins

This was a pretty good Barbera d’ Alba, nothing screamingly exciting about it but it was varietally correct displaying the classic aroma and taste profiles. At the $17 price tag it is definitely a buy and would go great with classic northern Italian or Mediterranean cuisine or would even be a nice splurge for a pizza night.

Thanks again to David for hosting this months WBW! Cheers!

Wine Blogging Wednesday #52 Value Chilean Reds

This months Wine Blogging Wednesday, #52, is brought to us by Tim Lemke over at Cheap Wine Ratings. He asks us to review Chilean Value Reds, preferably under $20 but even better if it is under $10. For my wine I chose the 2006 Casa Lapostolle Cabernet Sauvignon from Rapel in the Central Valley of Chile. I am sure most of you have heard of Casa Lapostolle, especially now after their 2005 Clos Apalta Colchagua Valley was #1 on the Wine Spectator Top 100 list. At 200,000 cases annual production and distribution to over 70 countries, it is a good bet that your local wine shop has a bottle of Casa Lapostolle in stock.

Rapel is known for both its Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc. The soil in Rapel is sandy with patches of loam and clay, and a majority of the vineyards lie on low to steep sloping hillsides. The 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of primarily Cabernet (85%) followed by Carmenere (6%), Petit Verdot (6%) and Cabernet Franc (3%). Due to the “coldest” vintage in 7 years, the ’06 harvest saw extra hang time in the vineyard in order for the grapes to reach proper maturity, before it was hand harvested in April. Yep, April, just when North America is seeing their bud break, South America is harvesting. The oak program for the wine was modest at just 6 months for 70% of the wine which went in to used barrels, while 30% was aged in stainless steel.

My Tasting Notes –

Nose – Blackberry, red currant, bacon and peppermint

Taste – Blueberry, cedar, green pepper, black cherry and leather

Mouthfeel – medium to full body with fuzzy tannins

Finish – long with lots of fruit left over and bigger than expected tannins

I sipped this wine with a dinner that I probably wouldn’t usually pair with Cabernet Sauvignon, although it worked quite well. I made a bacon, mushroom, cheddar veggie burger with a side of tator-tots. Weird I know, but the “meatiness” of the burger and “bacon” combined with the savoriness of the sautéed mushrooms brought out the best in this Cabernet. The dark fruit was definitely first and foremost on this wine, but the nice meaty undertones with hints of leather added enjoyable layers of complexity on this $15 bottle.

Cheers!

Wine Blogging Wednesday #50 Which wine, which wilderness?

Russ the Winehiker is our host for the 50^th edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday, the monthly wine blogger tasting event created by Lenn Thompson of LENNDEVOURS wine blog. Russ asks us which wine we would choose to enjoy in the outdoors and also to share a favorite hike that you like to go in at this beautiful time of year. You get bonus points for sharing the hike and information about it, picking a locally produced wine and extra bonus points for actually going on the hike and enjoying the wine at the end of the day.

Picking my favorite hike in Virginia was an easy one, as I did this hike the first time when I was 9 years old. Old Rag Mountain is located in the Shenandoah National Park about 10 miles from Sperryville Virginia and is billed as one of the tougher hikes the area has to offer. Roundtrip the hike is approximately 8.6 miles with an elevation gain of 2510 feet. The hike offers everything from wooded steep trails to sketchy rock scrambles to gravelly fire road, a bit of something for everyone.

Info on the hike from HikingUpward.com –

 

 

From the upper Old Rag parking area turn left uphill on the blue blazed Ridge Trail next to the closed gate. (If you parked in the 200 car overflow lot on SR600/Nethers Rd. walk 0.5 miles up SR600 where it veers left and in another 0.4 miles ends at the Old Rag parking area). The trail will gradually increase in grade and make nine switch backs before reaching the first of many view points in 1.9 miles. From the first vista point to the west, the Ridge Trail will become more rocky before reaching the main easterly vista on the ridge in another 0.2 miles.

NOTE: From this point to the summit in 0.9 miles, the trail becomes a rock scramble with narrow passages, and several spots requiring hand over hand climbing.

From the easterly vista on the ridge start up the rock scramble, with the first obstacle a 12ft deep small crack in the rock. Climb to the bottom and follow it out to the left. Continue following the blue blazes passing around to the easterly side of the ridge and through another crack where the trail meets a small cliff. From here, the trail will become increasingly steep going through a small cave, before reaching the minor summit where the trail turns left. Be careful to follow the blue blazes, as there are several false trails that lead to overlooks.

After passing around the minor northerly summit, the trail becomes less steep, but still requires rock-hopping for most of the remaining 0.3 miles to the true summit, where there are several points with 360° views.

Continue south along the Ridge Trail now descending for 0.3 miles to the junction of the Saddle Trail and Byrd’s Nest Shelter. Turn right descending on the blue blazed Saddle Trail, then in 0.6 miles pass the Old Rag Shelter. Both shelters are available for day use only. From the Old Rag Shelter the trail widens and follows a forestry road for the 0.4 miles to the intersection of the Berry Hollow Fire road (left), Old Rag Fire Road (straight), and Weakley Hollow Fire Road (right).

Turn right downhill on the yellow blazed Weakley Hollow Fire Road. In 1.2 miles pass the Robertson Mountain Trail, and in another 200 yards the Corbin Hollow Trail. Continue along the Weakley Hollow Fire Road the remaining 0.8 miles back to the upper parking area.

This past Saturday the weather was perfect, mid 70’s, clear blue skies and lower than normal humidity, a great day to make the trek up Old Rag. It has been a couple of years since I had hiked it so I was really looking forward to it. On the journey with me that day were my wife, my sister and her husband/my best friend, all ready for the adventure. We got there a bit late (9:30) so the upper lot was already full as it only holds 9 cars and parked in the lower lot adding about 1.6 miles roundtrip to the hike. The hike was fantastic although at the tough sections there were some bottle necks of people as they tried to maneuver the tricky rock scrambles, all in all it was a great day that brought back tons of memories. Check out the below pics from the hike, they capture the day better than my words.

Megan at the start of the hike

John 2/3 of the way to the summit

View of the rocky summit

View looking West

Jeff spies something..don

watch out for falling rocks

The Sign at the summit

On the small 1 lane road that leads to and from the parking area for the trail head and parallels the Hughs River there is a small Virginia Winery called Sharp Rock Vineyards. Megan and I have been to Sharp Rock before, about 2 years ago, and were in need of a return visit. After we unloaded our packs and wiped off some of the grime, we meandered the mile or so from the trailhead and crossed over the river to Sharp Rock’s tasting room. Sharp Rocks tasting room is a converted old barn with the tasting room located above the barrel and tank rooms. It was a beautiful day, so the patio was full of people enjoying the vineyard views and surrounding mountains, as well as the wine.

After our tasting we decided that the 2007 Sauvignon Blanc would be perfect to quench our thirst after a hard four and a half hours of hiking.

My Tasting Notes

Nose – citrus, cut grass, lemon zest

Taste – tangerine, grapefruit, citrus, good stony minerality

Mouthfeel – crisp, light body with decent acidity

Finish – medium in length, very clean and dry

We shared this bottle on their back porch as we overlooked the vineyards and mountains, talking about how sore we might be the next day. There is nothing better than be exhausted after a great hike and enjoying some nice wine in a great setting with family and friends.

Thanks Russ for a great WBW selection! I think I get the gazillion point award for this post. haha

Cheers!

Wine Blogging Wednesday #48 – Back to your roots! – Happy 4th B-day!!

This Wednesday WBW celebrates its 4^th birthday and befittingly the founder of WBW (Lenn Thompson) has selected the topic for this month, Back to your roots. For #48 Lenn wanted us take a trip down memory lane and find the wine that started our journey into the wine world, re-taste it and of course right about it, then and now.

 

I had a hard time with this one, first because I forgot about it (not the first time) and second because I really can’t pinpoint my “Ah Ha” moment with wine to a single bottle.  So I veered off topic slightly here, but my magic bottle is more like a magic experience.  I had heard of this magic thing called “wine tasting”, where you could visit a winery, taste their wines, talk about them with the winemaker perhaps and see exactly where the grapes came from that provided the juice for your glass of wine.  I was in disbelief but soon found out that this was in actuality happening all over the state and all over the world. So with my in-laws and my wife we proceeded West to the Monticello region of Virginia to partake in some wine tasting.

 

On that day we visited one of the largest and probably the most celebrated winery in Virginia, Barboursville Vineyards. It opened my eyes completely to the scene of “wine enthusing” and I have been hooked ever since.  An addict for information, I was amazed at all that I could learn about who, what, when and where when it came to what I was drinking.

 

So at the time I didn’t take notes, so I don’t have anything to compare notes to, but I did drink a Merlot while I was there, and I luckily happened to have a bottle in my cellar from a visit a few months ago. If I did have notes, I am sure they would have been something like this: “um, it’s red, tastes pretty good, I like it” or something to that effect. Haha

 

My notes on the current 2006 Barboursville Merlot

Color – Garnet

Nose – Blackberry, cherry, vanilla, leather, tomato paste

Taste – Blueberry, cherry cola, kale, black peppercorn

Mouthfeel – medium body, decent amount of acidity, smooth tannins

Finish – Medium to long in length with thyme and cherry tomato and clove flavors lingering on the palate 

This was a great Merlot in a world that has been harsh to the varietal lately.  Barboursville produces a very approachable version, that is definitely ready to drink now but could hang around for a few more years if you can resist temptation.  Fruit forward but not in your face, with good vegetal and herb notes providing complexity and depth not often found in a Merlot costing $14.99 from Virginia.

 

So Happy Birthday WBW!!

 

Cheers!

Wine Blogging Wednesday #46 – White Rhones

Wine Blogging Wednesday #46 is brought to us by Dr. Debs of Good Wine Under $20 and is the theme of White Rhone varietals.  My wine was the 2006 Ferration Pere & Fils Cotes du Rhone Blanc Samorens and it is the 3^rd and final wine of my WBW Blogger 3 pack I purchased from domaine547. (Thanks again Jill)

 

The 2006 Samorens is a blend of Grenache Blanc and Clairette, as is produced from the village of Laudun in the Rhone valley of France.

 

My Tasting Notes (sorry no pic, I have it on my other computer at home, not on my laptop with me on vacation)

 

Color – golden

Nose – Pineapple, sautéed ginger, tropical, cooked apple

Taste – Asian pear, cardamom, lime, lemon, apple

Mouthfeel – Medium body, dry across the mid palate, medium acidity and dry at the finish

Finish – long, key lime pie flavor

 

This wine really impressed me, especially for the $12 price tag. I am becoming more and more a fan of the Rhone wines both white and red. I have been a fan of Viognier for quite some time and have just recently gotten turned onto Grenache Blanc, and this one continued to peak my interest for the region.

 

Cheers!

Wine Blogging Wednesday #45 Old World Riesling

The wine for this Wine Blogging Wednesday #45 is the second wine in my WBW blogger pack from Domaine547. This months WBW topic was supplied by Tim at Winecast and was any Riesling from the “Old World.” The blogger pack Riesling was the 2006 Max Ferd Richter “Graf Zeppelin” from Mosel – Saar – Ruwer.  From the winery website, the history of the title of this wine, “Graf Zeppelin” is that is was the wine poured most on Zeppelin flights during the 20’s and 30’s. The grapes from this wine are grown in the Mülheimer Sonnenlay vineyard which consists of soil composed of gray slate soil resting on steep slopes along the Mosel river.  We ate this today (WBW) with General Tso’s “Chik’n” and it paired nicely being slightly off-dry counteracting the spiciness of the dish.

 

My Tasting Notes

Nose – Petroleum, rubber, pear

Taste – Fuji apple, pear, citrus, petrol, honey

Mouthfeel – medium viscous body, touch of sweetness

Finish – clean, long with mineral and honey flavors

 

This was a fun textbook Riesling that was a great pairing for the Chinese food. Classic food friendly flavors, a hint of sweetness and great viscosity on the palate would make this great for any spicy dish.

 

Thanks again to Tim for a great May WBW topic.

 

Cheers!

 

Wine Blogging Wednesday #45 Announced

Tim at Winecast has announced next months Wine Blogging Wednesday #45 and the date is none other than my birthday, May 7^th.  Tim has asked us to select an Old World (Germany, Austria, France) Riesling at any price point and of course blog about it. I of course already have mine picked out thanks to my fabulous purchase of the WBW blogger pack from Domaine547, so there won’t be my usual scramble the Tuesday night before to check the cellar or head to the wine shop.

 

Click HERE for the all the details on Tim’s site.

 

Cheers!

 

 

Wine Blogging Wednesday #44 Announced

Wine Blogging Wednesday #44 is hosted by Gary Vaynerchuk at Wine Library TV and the theme is French Cabernet Franc. French Cabernet Franc comes primarily from the Loire Valley but some Bordeaux varietals feature 100% (or almost 100%) so there are quite a few options out there for you. 

Blog entries are due on April 2^nd and post your entry to Gary’s comments for this episode of Wine Library TV and he’ll figure out some way to summarize this event.

Over at Domaine547, they have a great option for all of us WBW procrastinators.  They have put together a 3 pack that gives you great wines for the next three WBW’s, how cool.  Even though it awesome to see all the different wines that people choose for WBW, it will be great to see all the different and/or same tasting notes on the 3 wines in the Domaine547 blogger pack.

Cheers!

Wine Blogging Wednesday – #43 Announced

The next Wine Blogging Wednesday, #43 in fact, was announced last week while I was away so I am a bit late in posting the new topic.  The topic for number 43 comes to us from Joel at Wine Life Today and is one of comfort wines.  I have heard of comfort foods and am familiar with the ones that I would consider my comfort foods as well what the general public thinks comfort foods are.  But I have never thought to myself what my comfort wine might be.  Joel’s distinction for a comfort wine is this, “any wine that you love to unwind to and tell us about not only the wine but what makes the experience special and relaxing for you.”

Thanks Joel for a great topic.

Cheers!

Wine Blogging Wednesday #42 – Just Seven Words

This months WBW is brought to us by Andrew Barrow over at Spitoon. Andrew asks us to pick an Italian red wine and describe it in just SEVEN words.  HOW COOL!

Wine – 2003 Damilano Lecinquevigne Barolo

Grape – 100% Nebbiolo

Region – Barolo – Piemonte, Italy

Price – $35 Retail, we paid $58 at a local restaurant (Juleps) this past Saturday

My Seven Words –

Hey, who put cherries in my campfire?

Wine Blogging Wednesday #42 Announced

Hello wine blogosphere, the next Wine Blogging Wednesday has been announced. This months WBW is brought to us by Andrew Barrow over at Spitoon. Now this will only be the 3^rd WBW I have participated in but I think I have read about all 42, and this has to be the most unique one yet. Andrew asks us to pick an Italian red wine and describe it in just SEVEN words. Now those SEVEN words have to be in a sentence that makes sense and as grammatically correct as possible. Check out the rest of the details on his site here. I am excited but already trying to figure out how I will write a tasting note in only SEVEN words with our wine tonight.

Cheers